Point Loma Nazarene University alum and former All-American decathlete Jeff Hester has been awarded the prestigious 2013 Rolex Scholar of the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society (OWUSS) for all of North America.

The Rolex Scholarship is awarded to just three young people in the world who are considering a career in an underwater-related discipline.

Each scholar recipient spends a year working alongside current leaders in underwater fields.

Hester conducted senior thesis research with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA)/-Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) investigating heavy metal concentration in the long-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus capensis) and how it related to their health.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology, he was hired by NOAA as a lab technician in a marine mammal genetics lab. He uses genetic techniques to study gray whale and beaked whale population structure.

Sea Lions close out three-meet homestand

The Point Loma men’s and women’s track and field teams had the opportunity to host three straight meets, the PLNU Open, the Ross & Sharon Irwin Scoring Meet and the PLNU Invitational, early in the 2013 outdoor schedule. Many Sea Lions put up outstanding performances, which ranked among the top 10 in Point Loma history.

This included Jonathan Tiggs and Jennifer Van Wey in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. Lindsay Honea also set a record, as she won the women’s heptathlon at the PLNU Invitational. During the three weeks of home meets, PLNU hosted opponents from Navy, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Vermont. The PLNU women won the inaugural Ross & Sharon Irwin Scoring Meet with 428.5 points.

A quick look at Sea Lion baseball

The Sea Lions are now 14-17 on the season and remain in fifth place in the PacWest standings with an 11-9 record.

Tyler Nordgren leads the team with a .413 batting average. He is also pacing the Sea Lions with a .509 on-base percentage. Mike Marcoux (.326), Trey Hunt (.309) and Zach Allen (.305) are hitting over .300 for the Sea Lions. Allen leads the squad and is tied atop the PacWest with 12 stolen bases. He is also the team-leader with 21 runs batted in and six sacrifices. Clinton Harwick leads PLNU with 17 runs scored, and Bryan Burkhead paces the team with 42 total bases. As a team, PLNU leads the PacWest with 51 stolen bases, and is second with a.972 fielding percentage.

Senior pitcher Tyler Garkow leads the PacWest in innings pitched (63.0), games started (nine) and complete games (three). Justin Lawrence is second in the PacWest in both total strikeouts (54) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.47). Garret Levsen is tied for third in the league with four saves.